Why America needs Tupac in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame celebrates a uniquely American genre, one that's taken many forms over the decades — in Chuck Berry's soul, Bob Marley's reggae protest songs, Prince's flamboyant pop, and as the Rock Hall acknowledged Tuesday, Tupac's rhymes.

And the rapper, who earned a nomination for the Rock Hall Tuesday, is a uniquely American figure. Raised in poverty by two former Black Panthers, Pac pioneered hip hop’s celebration of rags-to-riches success, its poetic lyricism and its political undercurrents, selling over seventy-five million albu...